Course Outline

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Prof. Shapiro

AST 376

Course Outline

Unit #

  1. Introduction
  2. Fundamental Observations

    2.1 The Night Sky is Dark

    2.2 On Large Scales, the Universe Is Isotropic and Homogeneous

    2.3 Galaxies Show a Redshift Proportional to Their Distance

    2.4 The Universe Contains Different Types of Particles

    2.5 The Universe Is Filled with a Cosmic Microwave Background

  3. Newton Versus Einstein

    3.1 Equivalence Principle

    3.2 Describing Curvature

    3.3 The Robertson-Walker Metric

    3.4 Proper Distance

  4. Cosmic Dynamics

    4.1 The Friedmann Equation

    4.2 The Fluid and Acceleration Equations

    4.3 Equations of State

    4.4 Learning to Love Lambda

  5. Single-Component Universes

    5.1 Evolution of Energy Density

    5.2 Curvature Only

    5.3 Spatially Flat Universes

    5.4 Matter Only

    5.5 Radiation Only

    5.6 Lambda Only

  1. Multiple-Component Universes

    6.1 Matter + Curvature

    6.2 Matter + Lambda

    6.3 Matter + Curvature + Lambda

    6.4 Radiation + Matter

    6.5 Benchmark Model

  2. Measuring Cosmological Parameters

    7.1 "A Search for Two Numbers"

    7.2 Luminosity Distance

    7.3 Angular-Diameter Distance

    7.4 Standard Candles and the Hubble Constant

    7.5 Standard Candles and the Accelerating Universe

  3. Dark Matter

    8.1 Visible Matter

    8.2 Dark Matter in Galaxies

    8.3 Dark Matter in Clusters

    8.4 Gravitational Lensing

    8.5 What's the Matter?

  4. The Cosmic Microwave Background

    9.1 Observing the CMB

    9.2 Recombination and Decoupling

    9.3 The Physics of Recombination

    9.4 Temperature Fluctuations

    9.5 What Causes the Fluctuations?

  5. Nucleosynthesis and the Early Universe

    10.1 Nuclear Physics and Cosmology

    10.2 Neutrons and Protons

    10.3 Deuterium Synthesis

    10.4 Beyond Deuterium

    10.5 Baryon-Antibaryon Asymmetry

  6. Inflation and the Very Early Universe

    11.1 The Flatness Problem

    11.2 The Horizon Problem

    11.3 The Monopole Problem

    11.4 The Inflation Solution

    11.5 The Physics of Inflation

  7. The Formation of Structure

    12.1 Gravitational Instability

    12.2 The Jeans Length

    12.3 Instability in an Expanding Universe

    12.4 The Power Spectrum

    12.5 Hot Versus Cold

    Syllabus